Women´s quality of life and health enhancement represented the leading link that brought together the criteria of about 500 specialists from over ten countries attending the 15th Cuban Congress on Obstetrics and Gynecology, which was held from May 7th to 10th, 2013 at the Havana International Conference Center, Cuba.

A nearly 3D-structured look helped, in four days, to appraise Latin-American women´s situation from a gender approach, and reproductive and sexual rights. Distinguished personalities like Dr. Marina Padilla, Coordinator of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, guaranteed intentions so as to reduce insecure abortions worldwide and also prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Miguel Sosa Marin, President of the National Commission of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Family Planning, held that Cuba, Chile and Costa Rica are the countries with lowest maternal mortality rate. He announced it during his speech on the Cuban program for maternal mortality lowering; emergency contraception; knowledge and current use, as well as trends in the archipelago. Besides, Prof. Miguel Sosa disclosed the Cuban experience on Nimotuzumab monoclonal antibody treatment in patients living with cervix cancer.

In line with the Congress, the 8th Congress on Perinatology and Family Planning, 5th Congress on Child and Adolescent Gynecology and Adolescent Reproductive Health, 5th Congress on Climacteric and Menopause, and 5th Congress of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as 4th Congress on Lower Genital Tract Pathology and Colposcopy were also held.

The 6th International Congress on Urgencies, Emergencies and Intensive Health Care ¨URGRAV 2013¨, highlighted the prevention work carried out by Cuba in this field. This event was held from April 17th to 19th, 2013, at the Havana International Conference Center where over 300 delegates from nearly 20 countries attended.

Cuba, which has been frequently affected by many meteorological situations, is considered as an example for the world as regards minimum number of casualties produced by, in some occasions, our beloved Earth´s irreverence. It is due to a consolidation of a single knowledge and preventive strategies put into practice in risk moments, according to Marta Sandoya, President of the Latin American Association of Cooperation in Medical Emergency and Disasters (ALACED in Spanish). Cuban people do not await for the disaster to come up with answers, they rather get ready to reduce damages, pointed out the expert. Besides, she acknowledged Cuban specialists´ humanitarian work around the world.

In another speech to the congress, Cristina Luna, Vice-Minister of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP in Spanish), set forth that Cuban health system has gathered a valuable experience in dissimilar health sectors for 54 years, among them, seriously ill patient care and emergency. The model of family medicine, which has been developed in Cuba since 1984, has joined urgency, care and emergency together. It has been getting stronger since 2005 with the creation of municipal intensive care units in different polyclinics.

The 4th International Nursing Congress in Critical Care Medicine and the 3rd Forum of the Latin-American Association of Cooperation in Medical Emergency and Disasters were also included in the event agenda. During these events, delegates had the chance of debating different important issues as care of patients with multiple injuries, nutritional therapy for seriously ill patient, disaster health care services, and so forth.

Dr. Adiel García, from the United States; Steven Lee Fineberg, Australia; Paulo Antoniazzi, Brazil; Sebastián Ugarte Ubiergo, Chile; and José Cuñat de la Hoz, from Spain were one of the celebrities attending the congress.

Our planet is considered as a quite dynamic one boasting about a great deal of parts which interact each other, therefore earth is a challenge to understand. It was the predominant topic of discussion at the former 5th Cuban Convention on Earth Sciences where around 700 delegates from over 30 countries attended. The call of this Convention favored delegates to be updated on topics as minerals, gaseous substances, oilfields, as well as crucial roles about hundred of already analyzed researches for the good of the forthcoming economies.

The 10th Cuban Congress on Geology, the 7th Cuban Congress on Geophysics, the 5th Cuban Congress on Mining and the 4th Cuban Congress on Oil and Gas, as well as the 11th Cuban Congress on Informatics and Geosciences were included in ¨GEOSCIENCES 2013¨. Plenty of modalities of presentation were simultaneously in session as oral presentations, round tables, workshops and so forth. There was also a congress-related exhibition in which new technologies, products and services closed linked with the topic were held.

Manuel Marrero Faz, Senior Consultant of the Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines, stated at a master lecture that unconventional gas would transform the energy geopolicy. This gas pollutes 35% less than oil and 45% less than coal. It is not so harmful to the environment. The countries, that launch nowadays greenhouse effect gases to the atmosphere, will benefit from the use of this gas. - he explained.

At the Convention, delegates had the exceptional opportunity to exchange and share experiences with personalities as Antonio García Casco, Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology Department of the University of Granada, Spain, who gave a master lecture on Jade road or multicolored mineral stones. There was also the presence of Nadine Ellouz Zimmermann, Head of Geosciences of French Institute for Renewable Energy, with her master lecture ¨Characterization of failure activities by multitools from its oceanographic approach. The case of Haiti.¨

There was a warm welcome for delegates of this event at ¨Lázaro Peña¨ Theater in Havana, along with Habana Compas Dance Company. The fraternity lunch, which was provided by ¨El Bucán¨ Restaurant at the Havana International Conference Center, constituted as the official closing ceremony of the event and also as an invitation for coming edition.

In HEMATOLOGY´2013, we expect oral presentations in the five rooms that will session simultaneously during the days of the congress, of about 269 talks in the different topics of the event, 111 of them presented by prestigious experts from 31 countries.

At the same time, delegates and other participants will be able to discuss about other 300 topics presented in poster in the different specialities of the congress.

Besides, a group of important organizations and commercial enterprises will present their products and services in the Commercial Fair.